Softball Gets Eliminated At MVC Tournament By Evansville 8-0

Saturday, May 10

Evansville, Ind.

12:00 PM

Southern Illinois University

36-12

Evansville

29-22

Southern Illinois

Evansville

05/10/2003 | 12:00:00 | Softball

Box Score

May 10, 2003

Box Score

Carbondale, Ill. - #24 Southern Illinois (36-12, 18-6 MVC) was eliminated from the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament by Evansville (29-22, 13-12 MVC) 8-0 in five innings due to the eight-run rule on Saturday at Cooper Stadium. SIU, the #2 seed, allowed more runs (eight), its largest deficit of the season (eight) and margin of defeat (eight) in a game this year to #5 seed Evansville. Creighton beat Evansville 6-2 in the following game to win the MVC Tournament and the automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

"I don't like to make excuses. I'm embarrassed that this happened to us at this stage of the season. I think we should have been better than what we were. Evansville looked like a team that has seen our pitchers and we didn't look like we've seen their pitching. We were flat and I wished we would have played better, but we didn't," said a disappointed Kerri Blaylock, SIU head coach.

Evansville broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning with six runs on four hits and an error. SIU's Renee Mueller (14-3) allowed two singles and a two-RBI double to give the Purple Aces a 2-0 lead. Amy Harre came on in relief and allowed an RBI single, a walk and a three-run home run, only her fifth allowed all year, to stretch the lead to 6-0.

The Purple Aces added a two-run homer off Mueller, who re-entered in the fourth after a Harre double, to take an 8-0 lead. The home run was only the third all year off Mueller, but gave Evansville the eight-run lead. SIU couldn't score in the top of the fifth and the game ended via the eight-run rule after five innings, the only time that has happened to the Salukis in 2003.

Mueller suffered the loss allowing five hits, four earned runs and two walks in 3.1 innings. Harre allowed four earned runs, three hits and a walk with one strikeout in two thirds of an inning. Harre and Mueller had not allowed more than three earned runs in any appearance this year and entered the tournament with an 0.88 and 1.01 era respectively, the top two marks in the Valley.

The Salukis did get some good news at the MVC Tournament when outfielder Lindsey Bonnell and third baseman Haley Viefhaus were both named to the 2003 MVC All-Tournament Team for their performances. Bonnell and Viefhaus each batted .375 (3-for-8) to lead all SIU hitters.

"Lindsey and Haley were both very intense offensively and had a good weekend. I can't say enough about the way they played in the tournament," added Blaylock.

The Salukis must now wait to see if the NCAA Division I Softball Committee will give SIU an at-large bid to its first expanded 64-team field in the tournament's 22nd year. Southern Illinois looks to make school and MVC history by earning the first at-large bid to a regional tournament for the school or the conference. Twenty-six automatic conference bids will be handed out Saturday, leaving 38 at-large bids. The 2003 NCAA Tournament field will be announced at 9 p.m. Central time Sunday on ESPN News.

"I have no idea what will happen. I can't worry about it (the at-large bid). I can't change anything or go back and do anything different. I told the kids that I hope what we've done over the year is going to be enough and that's all I can hope for. I think we've had a great year and just one bad loss at the end," Blaylock stated.

The eight regionals will be held at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), University of Florida (Gainesville), University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), University of Arizona (Tucson), University of Texas (Austin), University of Nebraska (Lincoln), California State University-Fresno (Fresno) and California State University-Fullerton (Fullerton). Eight teams will play in double elimination tournaments May 15-18 to determine the eight teams that will play in the Women's College World Series May 22-26 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.